OTT…how the world changes!
When the history of cinema will be written in the future, there will be two distinct parts – before OTT and after OTT.
OTT has changed the game in a way that in a few years, theaters will be obsolete. New releases anyway show up online faster than they used to, but after a while the costs of maintaining theaters will become prohibitive, and the public will choose to stay home rather than pay the exorbitant amounts that one has to shell out for a trip to the movies.
But this phenomenon has huge minuses. One is the habit of binge-watching – since all episodes of series are ‘dropped’ at one go, one cannot but finish them over a single weekend. And even if you want to watch one episode at a time, the software has been tweaked in such a (annoying) way that the next episode starts in 5 seconds! Now either you are a reaction champion, or you resign yourself to watch the next episode anyway.
The second is of having so much content at your fingertips – movies, series, documentaries, live shows – from so many platforms, that resisting is next to futile – the addiction level has surpassed drugs like cocaine (some studies out there prove this). Add mobile scrolling and metaverse to the list and we are well on our way to zombie land.
If you think this is overthinking it, well – find out for yourself. Stay away from your mobile for a couple of hours – don’t look at it, keep it on mute, and away. Observe your reaction. Observe how you feel – the urge, the anxiety, the need to quickly glance at it, to feel it in your hand. My dear friend, if that isn’t addition, then I don’t know what is!
Netflix is just mobile addition, on a bigger screen.
I had written about mobile addiction during the Sādhana series. You can read that bit here. I think it’s good to try it out for the OTT addiction as well. And mind you, this will not be easy. Like drug addiction, you will keep slipping back into it. Netflix will keep adding content, and you will be hooked once again, and again, and again.
Fall down 7 times, but get up eight. That is what life is all about, after all:)
See you tomorrow!
कालः पचति भूतानि, कालः संहरते प्रजाः |
कालः सुप्तेषु जागर्ति, कालो हि दुरतिक्रमः ||
kālaḥ pachati bhūtāni, kālaḥ saṃharate prajāḥ |
kālaḥ supteṣhu jāgarti, kālo hi duratikramaḥ ||
Mahabharata
Time devours all things, Time kills all that are born.
Time is awake while all else sleeps, Time is insurmountable.